Containment of Nuclear Weapons Act 2003

• Permanent Page URL

Inspections.

7.—(1) An authorised officer may, for the purposes of ensuring that this Act is being complied with—

(a) at any reasonable time and consistent with the provisions of the Protocol, enter any place (with reasonable force if necessary, provided it is authorised by a warrant under subsection (5))—

(i) in respect of which under section 9 information has been or is required to be provided, or

(ii) in, at or on which there are reasonable grounds to believe an offence against this Act has been or is being committed,

(b) inspect the place,

(c) request any person in, at or on the place to give to the authorised officer access to any area, or thing in, at or on the place,

(d) secure under a warrant under subsection (5), for later inspection, any such place or area, or any thing in, at or on the place,

(e) examine any thing in, at or on the place,

(f) request any person in charge of or employed in, at or on the place to produce to the authorised officer such information contained in the records, files, papers or electronic information systems kept in, at or on, or used in relation to, the place and, in the case of such information in a non-legible form, to reproduce it in a legible form,

(g) inspect and take copies of or extracts from any such records, files, papers or electronic information systems in, at or on the place, including in the case of information in a non-legible form, copies of or extracts from such information in a permanent legible form,

(h) remove and retain, under a warrant under subsection (5), those records, files or papers, or equipment used in such information systems, for such period as may be reasonable for further examination or until the conclusion of any legal proceedings,

(i) have photographs taken of any thing in, at or on the place and remove the photographs from the place,

(j) where appropriate, install, use and maintain in, at or on the place monitoring instruments, systems and seals, in a manner consistent with the Protocol,

(k) require any person in, at or on the place to give to the authorised officer any information that the officer may reasonably require in the inspection or investigation,

(l) take samples for analysis of any thing in, at or on the place, without payment, and analyse those samples or remove them from the place for analysis outside the place,

(m) as regards any thing the authorised officer finds in, at or on the place, require any person in, at or on the place, or who appears to the officer to be in possession of the thing, to supply without payment, for test, examination or analysis, sufficient samples thereof,

(n) cause any thing found in, at or on the place the possession or use of which appears to the authorised officer to constitute an offence under this Act, to be dismantled or subjected to any process or test (but not so as to damage or destroy it unless it is in the circumstances necessary for the purposes of this Act, and where an authorised officer proposes to exercise this power in the case of a thing found in, at or on the place, the officer shall, if required by a person who at the time is present in, at or on and has responsibility in relation to the place, cause anything which is to be done by virtue of that power to be done in the presence of that person),

(o) take possession of any such thing in, at or on the place and retain it for so long as is necessary for all or any of the following purposes:

(i) to examine or arrange for its examination and do to it anything that he or she has power to do under paragraph (h),

(ii) to ensure that it is not tampered with before the examination is completed,

(iii) to ensure that it is available for use as evidence in any proceedings,

(p) require any person in, at or on the place to afford the authorised officer such facilities and assistance within the person's control or responsibilities as are reasonably necessary to enable the officer to exercise any of the powers conferred on an authorised officer by or under this Act, and

(q) exercise such other powers as may be necessary to ensure that this Act or the Protocol is complied with.

(2) Before exercising a power to take possession of, seize, remove or retain conferred by subsection (1) in the case of any thing, an authorised officer shall, so far as it is reasonably practicable to do, consult such persons as appear to him or her to be appropriate for the purposes of ascertaining what danger, if any, there may be in doing anything that he or she proposes to do under that power.

(3) An authorised officer shall not, except with the consent of the occupier, enter a private dwelling unless he or she has obtained a warrant under subsection (5) authorising such entry.

(4) Where an authorised officer in the exercise of his or her powers under this section is prevented from entering any place, an application may be made to the District Court for a warrant under subsection (5) authorising such entry.

(5) Without prejudice to the powers conferred on an authorised officer by or under any other provision of this section, if a judge of the District Court is satisfied on the sworn information of an authorised officer that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that there is information required by an authorised officer under this section held in, at or on any place, or there is a thing that an authorised officer requires to inspect for the purposes of this Act, or that such an inspection is likely to disclose evidence of a contravention of this Act, the judge may issue a warrant authorising an authorised officer, accompanied by other authorised officers or members of the Garda Síochána, at any time or times within one month from the date of issue of the warrant, to enter the place, if necessary by the use of reasonable force, and exercise all or any of the powers conferred on an authorised officer by or under this Act.

(6) An application for a warrant under subsection (5) shall be made to the judge of the District Court in the district court district in which the place is situated.

(7) Where, by or under this section, a warrant under subsection (5) would otherwise be required to exercise a power, it is not so required if the conditions for obtaining a warrant exist but, by reason of exigent circumstances, it would not be practicable to obtain the warrant.

(8) An authorised officer, where he or she considers it necessary, may be accompanied by a member of the Garda Síochána when exercising a power conferred on an authorised officer by or under this Act.

(9) A person who—

(a) obstructs or interferes with an authorised officer in the exercise of the officer's powers under this Act,

(b) refuses or fails to comply with a request by an authorised officer under this Act, or

(c) makes a statement to an authorised officer which the person knows to be false or misleading or which he or she does not believe to be true,

is guilty of an offence.